High school football roundup: Athens Academy posts 10-7 win over Our Lady of Mercy

Athens Academy’s Eric Williams caught a 47-yard touchdown pass from Austin Schulte with 4:47 remaining in the game Friday as the Spartans posted a come-from-behind 10-7 victory over visiting Our Lady of Mercy.

Athens Academy’s first score came on a 27-yard field goal by Michael Santamaria in the second quarter.

The Spartans held the Bobcats (3-1) to 95 yards of offense on Friday.

“Our defense really played well tonight,” said Spartans coach Michael Gunn. “(Our Lady of Mercy) scored on an interception return, so our defense really did the job. I think the kids overcame my coaching tonight because I really didn’t call a very good game.”

PRINCE AVENUE CHRISTIAN 48, GLASCOCK COUNTY 7: At Bogart, quarterback Zack Graham completed 6 of 8 passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns and Bryce Huff rushed for 90 yards and two touchdowns on five carries as Prince Avenue Christian — ranked No. 3 in Class A — remained undefeated with a resounding victory over Glascock County.

The Wolverines’ defense held Glascock County to 165 yards of offense while Prince Avenue rolled up 441 yards of offense, despite running but three plays from scrimmage in the fourth quarter. Prince Avenue (4-0) will open Region 8-A play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Athens Christian.

HERITAGE 21, CEDAR SHOALS 0: At Conyers, the Patriots — ranked No. 9 in Class AAAAA — shut out the Jaguars, who lost their second consecutive game after starting the season with two victories.

Cedar Shoals (2-2, 0-2 in Region 8-AAAAA), which scored 27 points last Friday in a loss to Flowery Branch, will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Loganville. Heritage (4-0, 2-0) will play at Gainesville — ranked No. 6 in Class AAAAA — on Friday.

COMMERCE 18, RABUN COUNTY 17: At Commerce, Drew Whitfield scored the winning touchdown with 19 seconds remaining on a 4-yard run after he recovered an onside kick moments before.

Jamal Browner scored on a 9-yard run with 3:28 in the fourth quarter to put the Tigers within five points of Rabun County, and an onside kick was successful, with Whitfield making the recovery. Commerce needed 10 plays to go 47 yards for the game winner. Commerce (4-0) — ranked No. 7 in Class A — will open Region 8-A play on Friday at George Walton. George Walton defeated Warren County 37-0 on Friday.

LANIER 14, MADISON COUNTY 7: At Sugar Hill, Madison County took a 7-0 lead into the half on a 3-yard run by T.J. Skelton, but the Longhorns scored twice in the second half — including a 95-yard fumble recovery return with a little less than three minutes remaining.

Apalachee’s night was highlighted by a 98-yard kickoff return by Jody Mathis to begin the third quarter. Unfortunately for the Wildcats (1-2, 0-2), Gainesville answered with a scoring kick return and returned another kickoff from a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats will host Clarke Central at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Running by committee

Although North Oconee’s Kawon Bryant sat out the Titans’ 44-0 victory at Athens Christian Friday night, there were plenty of Titans ready and willing to carry the football.

North Oconee had 11 players, including quarterbacks Nick Colvin and Tate Adcock, record rushing yards against the Eagles. The Titans were led on the ground by Rob Farriba (six attempts, 35 yards and one touchdown), Zantravious Shields (two attempts, 76 yards, two touchdowns) and Jordan Glover (four attempts, 57 yards).

Colvin completed 7 of 10 passes for 114 yards and an 11-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to Zack Sims.

Titans coach Terry Tuley said he hoped to give Bryant – who suffered an ankle injury the day before North Oconee’s season opener at St. Pius X – another week of rest before returning him to the lineup.

The North Oconee defense also turned in a nice performance, limiting the Eagles (1-3) to 39 total offensive yards (9 yards passing, 30 yards rushing). North Oconee (2-1) will open Region 8-AAA play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Jackson County. Athens Christian will open Region 8-A play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Prince Avenue Christian.

Beware the fourth quarter

Paced by a stingy offense and a hard-nosed quarterback, Commerce recorded a remarkable comeback Friday in an 18-17 victory over Rabun County at Tiger Stadium.

Trailing 17-6 in the fourth quarter, the Tigers ran off a 16-play, 85 yard drive that ended with a 9-yard touchdown rush by Jamal Browner with 3:30 remaining. The Tigers then successfully attempted an onside kick that was recovered by quarterback Drew Whitfield at the Rabun County 47-yard line.

The Tigers then went on a 10-play, 47-yard drive that ended when Whitfield ran in from 4 yards out with 19 seconds remaining. Rabun County then had two unsuccessful plays to try to come back as time expired. Those were the only two offensive plays Rabun County got off in the fourth quarter as the Tigers held on the ball for 26 fourth-quarter plays.

Terrick Ramsey, who scored Commerce’s first touchdown in the second quarter, finished the night with 113 yards on 16 carries. Whitfield had 98 yards on 22 attempts (and was 2 of 6 passing for 65 yards and an interception) and Browner – who only played in the fourth quarter due to an injured ankle – rushed nine times for 36 yards.

Commerce had 385 offensive yards and limited Rabun County to 290 yards, only 33 of which came in the second half.

The Tigers — ranked No. 7 in Class A — will open Region 8-A play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at George Walton in Monroe.

Not much ‘O’ for Cedar Shoals

In last week’s 45-27 loss to Flowery Branch, Cedar Shoals rolled up 380 yards of offense, but there wasn’t much offense to be had Friday night as the Jaguars lost to No. 9 Heritage 21-0.

Cedar Shoals (2-2, 0-2 in Region 8-AAAAA) managed but 122 offensive yards against the Patriots (4-0, 2-0), with Adrian Washington picking up the bulk of it by rushing 53 yards.

The Jaguars were shut out for the first time since 2010. That season, Cedar Shoals — which went 4-6 — lost to Rockdale County 3-0 on Sept. 10 and lost to Loganville 22-0 on Oct. 18.

Cedar Shoals will return to region play at 7:30 p.m. Friday, playing at Loganville.

The Wildcats (1-2, 0-1 in Region 8-AAAAA) fell behind 49-0 at the half. They got the third quarter off to a good start as Jody Mathis returned the second-half kickoff 99 yards for Apalachee’s first score.

Unfortunately for Shane Davis and his troops, Gainesville (3-1, 2-0) returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.

Clint Ashe provided much of Apalachee’s second-half offense, tossing a 25-yard scoring pass to Kyle Jackson in the third quarter (after which Gainesville ran another kickoff back for a touchdown) and hitting Jermaine Smith on a 55-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile in Conyers, Winder-Barrow gave Salem just about all it could handle but suffered its 28th consecutive loss, falling 22-20 to the Seminoles.

The Bulldoggs’ last victory came on Oct. 9, 2009 against Monroe Area.

Apalachee has a short week to prepare for its next game. The Wildcats will host Clarke Central (1-2, 0-0) on Thursday night in a game that will be aired by Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Winder-Barrow (0-3, 0-2) will have next week off and will then host Heritage — ranked No. 9 in Class AAAAA — at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 5.

Close but yet so far

Like Winder-Barrow, Madison County came oh-so-close to its first victory of the season Friday at Lanier in Sugar Hill. T. J. Skelton scored on a 3-yard run in the second quarter to put the Red Raiders up 7-0 going into half time.

After the Longhorns tied it 7-7 in the third quarter, Madison County had a nice fourth-quarter drive going and advanced to the Lanier 5-yard line. A miscommunication led to a fumble, which was recovered by a Lanier player and returned 95 yards for the winning touchdown with about three minutes remaining.

Jackson County defeated East Jackson 47-7 at Panther Stadium in Jefferson. The Panthers last started a season 3-1 in 2009 but proceeded to lose five consecutive games to finish at 4-6. Jackson County (3-1, 1-0 in Region 8-AAA) will host North Oconee at 7:30 p.m. Friday. East Jackson (0-4, 0-1) is off to its worst start ever and will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Elbert County’s Granite Bowl.

In Region 8-A action, Prince Avenue Christian — ranked No. 3 in Class A — had little trouble with Glascock County in a 48-7 victory while Athens Academy needed a late score to take a 10-7 victory over pesky visitors Our Lady of Mercy. The Wolverines (4-0) will open region play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Athens Christian and the Spartans (3-0) will start its region schedule Friday at Lakeview Academy in Gainesville.

Teams that were off Friday included Clarke Central (1-2), which will play at Apalachee on Thursday; Jefferson (2-1), which will play at Greene County at 7:30 p.m. Friday; Oconee County (1-2), which will open Region 8-AAA play at Morgan County at 7:30 p.m. Friday; and Oglethorpe County (2-1), which will host Riverside Military at 7:30 p.m. Friday.